


Safe

by WhySoMelancholy



Category: The Dark Crystal (1982), The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance (TV)
Genre: Angst, Character Death, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-31
Updated: 2020-07-31
Packaged: 2021-03-05 18:53:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 566
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25630150
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhySoMelancholy/pseuds/WhySoMelancholy
Summary: After the Garthim raid Jen's village, he emerges from the destruction to find his parents, who had promised their return. When he sees their fallen silhouettes against the backdrop of the fires that consume his home, he is left helpless until rescue comes in the form of a wise old Mystic.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 10





	Safe

Dying screams fill his ears as he sits in what is left of his home, his hands over his ears to block the noise, his eyes squeezed shut. His parents told him to stay hidden, and so he did as he was told. But nothing could have prepared him for what awaited him when he emerged from the rubble – homes turned to ash, bodies decorated the village, blood painted on the ground. Fire tore through the trees and robbed the fresh air, so every agonizing breath Jen takes is one filled with ash and smoke as he slowly opens his eyes, blue hues adjusting to what was left of Stone-in-the-Wood.

“Papa? Mama?” The childling frantically looks around for any sign of life, ears twitching for any detection of sound – but all is silent except for his own panicked breath, quickening with each intake of polluted air, the stench of burning flesh and earth threatening to make the young one retch.

_“Papa? Mama!”_ He calls again, his voice seeming to slice through the eerie silence, the panic growing ever so stronger inside him as he stumbles to his feet. He has to find them. They have to be here; they have to be **alive**. They promised him they’d come back.

_They promised…_

Gaze falls on two fallen gelfling, their silhouettes growing more familiar as Jen takes cautious steps closer. He doesn’t need to see if it’s them. He knows. Kneeling at his father’s side, the childling places a hand on his shoulder before giving it a light shake.

“Papa?” He shakes him again, this time more forcefully. “Papa, come on, _get up_. The monsters are gone.” Tears well in the childling’s eyes, head shaking as he shakes his father once more. He shakes his mother, too.

“Mama?? Papa, **please** get up…” Jen lets his tears fall, knowing his efforts to wake his parents are all for naught as he quietly curls himself in between them, draping his father’s arm around him as quiet sobs rack the young one’s body. _This can’t be… They promised… Why did this have to happen?_

He can sense the presence of another… though they are foreign to him as he peeks up at them with glassy hues. The sad, old, wrinkled features of a Mystic gazes down upon him – kind eyes meeting his own as one of four hands is outstretched.

“Young gelfling,” his voice sounds old, ancient… but there’s kindness. “You must come with me.”

“But—” Jen starts, turning his gaze back to his parents. He can’t leave… He couldn’t. He couldn’t leave them _here._

“Your parents cannot be with you anymore, young one.” The Mystic beckons Jen to come closer, and before Jen goes to him, he gives his parents a final goodbye – pressing his forehead against theirs; remembering them as they were; how they smelled, how they laughed, how they laughed with him. Small hands clutch the **firca** his father had left him, and Jen holds the instrument close to his chest as he rises to his feet and takes shaky steps towards the other. 

“You will be safe with me in the Valley,” hand reaches out again, taking the childling in his arm where Jen buries his face in the long, grey hair that cascaded down his long neck. “Come, now.”

The gelfling then peeks behind and takes in his last glimpse of what is left of Stone-in-the-Wood.

**Author's Note:**

> I often think about little baby Jen and the aftermath of his parents' deaths. This honestly gave me huge Lion King/Bambi vibes but ay, what can you do. I've had this fic posted on my tumblr, but I thought I'd post it here as my first work! I thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoy!


End file.
